Disorted Pasts Meet Obscure Futures
by Amber's Angel
Summary: Joint story with NewTribeGirl. How we envisaged Amber's return in Season 3 (written before it aired). Amber/Bray
1. Part 1

Distorted Pasts Meet Obscure Futures  
by Amber's Angel & NewTribeGirl  
  
  
~ * ~  
  
The mallrats sat in a small room, all captured by the Chosen. Their future looked dark and bleak, uncertain at best. Bray and Lex had amazingly survived the crash and were thrown into the room. Ryan and Salene had been taken from the hotel, and Danni amazingly had survived the attack on her and was now lying in Bray's arms alive and fully conscious albeit bruised and bloodied. The rest of the tribe had been marched in some time ago. Tai-san fussed over her husband and the two young girls who had also bee captured. "Chloe, Patsy do not cry, it will all work out for the best. You must have positive thoughts."   
Lex groaned in pain. "Positive thoughts didn't do much for me, eh?"   
Tai-San stroked his head. "You're alive aren't you?"   
The rest of the tribe sat quietly questioning their fate. When suddenly a large argument began outside.  
"Please, please, don't kill them!" It was Trudy's panicked voice they heard.  
"Well if you love them so much you can join them!" The Guardian replied. The door was opened and Trudy was thrown inside.   
"Please, no! Please bring me Brady!"  
The Guardian laughed. "She is ours now. You will not be able to take care of her when you are dead!"  
Trudy slammed her hand on the door in frustration. "No! No!" She began to cry, collapsed into a heap and continued to sob uncontrollably. The mallrats simply stared at the girl. She looked up at them. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. I started out just trying to protect Brady…and I was just so stupid, everyone kept calling me the supreme mother and I…I just lost it. I'm so sorry guys, so sorry, please don't think I'm evil." with that she began to sob again.  
Salene was the first to reach out for her, "Oh Trudy, it's okay, it's okay." The rest nodded in agreement.   
"I am sure that you were just trying to protect Brady." Ellie said.  
Bray too hugged her. "Don't worry we'll get out of here, and then we'll get Brady back." He asked about exactly what happened to her, hoping to get some idea on how to defeat the Chosen. Trudy began to explain what had happened, it turned out she had just trying to protect Brady. But then the Guardian had been so convincing…. Trudy began to cry again. Needless to say the conversation did not help them find a strategy.   
So Bray went back to the corner to sit with Danni once again. She groaned and put her head on his shoulder. "Are you sure you are okay?" He asked concerned.   
She smiled up at him, "I'm sure."  
He smiled back. "Good, I was afraid I might lose you."  
"Bray," Danni said, struggling to sit up. "I…love you. This…has made me realise how short life is. Bray…when we get back…I want us to get married." Bray looked down at Danni in shock! Marry her. He liked Danni, he loved spending time with her, he might even say he loved her, but not like that, not enough to marry her, not like he'd loved Amber. "It's her isn't it? I know, you're not over Amber yet, but don't worry you will be some day, and I'll be waiting." Bray nodded, but he was frustrated, he wasn't sure that he would ever get over Amber. Danni sounded so sure he would, almost like he was getting over the common cold. He sighed, it wasn't her fault, Danni just didn't understand his pain.   
He calmed himself and began to doze off, he heard someone move and looked around. It was simply Ryan moving in his sleep. As he looked around he was surprised at the calmness of the tribe. They most likely faced death in the morning yet they all sat peacefully, some sleeping, some simply relaxing calmly. He was still marvelling at this when his gave met Tai-San's gaze. "It is because we are all now together. Ryan and Salene have rejoined us, and Trudy has returned. We are once again whole. The Tribe is complete."  
"Except for one" Bray sighed.   
"Oh, but Amber is here, I feel her presence, as well as Zandra's, they will always be with us in spirit."  
Bray nodded "I know, she is always with me, whenever I make a decision for the tribe, I try to think about what Amber would have done. I will always keep Amber's spirit alive with me."   
They both went back to sleep after that. But a few minutes later there was another disturbance. "Now! I want this door open now! I believe that you have prisoners of my tribe in there, a direct defiance of our treaty with the Chosen!"  
"But Eagle…"  
"No, you insolent servant, how dare you refuse me. I am Eagle, if you do not allow me entry I will…"  
A voice interrupted her. "Let her in." Amber spun around and came face to face with the Guardian. At first she was frightened, but then she reminded herself that she was no longer, Amber, but Eagle, a powerful tribe leader, ruler of many. Her tribe alone had a treaty with the Chosen protecting them. "Forgive me, Eagle, my servants sometimes forget their roles." He nodded and the door was opened. "It pains me that you do not have faith in me to keep our agreement, look about, you will see none of your tribe."   
Amber did look about. And what she saw shocked her, her first tribe, the tribe that she thought had died on Eagle Mountain sat defeated in the cell. Dal and Jack sat together on the far wall with KC. Tai-San with Lex and the younger girls sat facing her along with 3 other girls she didn't know. Ryan and Salene sat in a corner sleeping in each other's arms. She began to panic, she could not find Bray. She looked to the corner closer to her and found him, in the arms of another girl. Her already fractured heart burst into a million pieces. She gasped and almost stumbled and immediately Jasper, her faithful aide, was at her side. He put a hand on her shoulder "Are you all right, Eagle?"   
She lifted her head high. "I am fine." She said, trying to regain her composure. "The stench of this room simply shocked me for a moment." She must be strong, if she gave any sign that these people meant anything to her, the Chosen would use them as leverage against her. She must not show any weakness. She checked her hood again, making sure her face was covered by the shadows it created. In the darkness of this room even if she came close to one of them they would not see her face. She could no longer focus, the idea of regaining her closest friends from the grave was overwhelming. How had they survived? She was so confused. She tried to collect herself once again. "Forgive me, but I do not know this tribe, as you know I am from the country and I have little contact with the city tribes, who are they?"   
"These are mallrats, Eagle. I am surprised you have not heard of them, they discovered the antidote, that saved the city tribes."   
Amber almost lost it then. So they had been successful that day! And it had saved lives. It was almost too much to take in. But still questions plagued her, what had happened that day, why had they left her, how did they survive? "As you know the country tribes have no use for the antidote, and…if I remember correctly, you told me that your tribe found the antidote." She smiled smugly, finally regaining her composure.   
"Oh you must be mistaken, Eagle." The Guardian smiled back.  
"Perhaps." Amber replied.   
They turned to walk out. But she was attacked from behind by Bray. "How dare you! How dare you see my tribe in trouble, in the hands of death, and turn your back smiling!" The guards came running, but the Guardian stopped them with a raised hand, he smiled watching. Bray in his weakened state was no match for Amber's now trained and more muscular body. Amber quickly pinned Bray against the wall with a spin kick to the chest. She held a hand to his neck. "How dare you attack me! I am Eagle and you…" Amber looked into the face of the man she had loved, still loved, "You are nothing. You had better be careful Bray, or your tribe will find themselves down yet another leader." She released her hold on his neck and he slumped to the ground. The Guardian laughed. "She's a fiery one, isn't she. Let us go." They walked out of the room.  
Once they had left Danni ran over to him. "Bray! Bray! Are you all right?"  
Bray groaned, "I'm fine, just a few more bruises. "  
"Bray, who was that?" Alice asked.  
"Eagle, didn't you hear her?" Bray asked confused  
"But she knew you, she called you Bray." Danni said.  
"And she said 'you might find yourself down another leader,' Dal added, "almost as if she knew what happened on Eagle Mountain."   
"I don't know, guys, it makes no sense." Bray mused. "I just don't know."   
Amber barely got out of the Guardian's HQ by her own strength. The moment they left the grounds she collapsed into a heap overwhelmed by what she had seen, her tribe, the tribe she had assumed died on Eagle Mountain was alive and well. Why had they left her then? And why, oh why, had Bray been in the arms of another? She began to feel herself fading away. But then she heard Jasper calling her name. "Eagle Eagle?"  
"I am fine Jasper. Fine. Please, help me up. I can't allow the city tribes to see any weakness"   
Jasper reached down and practically picked her up, he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Lean on me." He turned to his attention to their convoy. "We will march out of the city and then find somewhere to rest as soon as possible." He began to walk, Amber leaned on him heavily barely moving her feet. "Come on Amber," he whispered using her real name, the name few other people knew. "You have to help me." They began to march toward their home in the hills. 


	2. Part 2

The trek to the hills would take at least two days, and after they had gathered the rest of The Hawks from their various positions, the large tribe settled down for the night a few miles from where the Mall Rats were being held. Amber had shut herself away for the whole journey, and even though Jasper was the only one who knew what was really wrong with her, people started to sense that something was wrong with their leader.  
"It's them, isn't it. Amber, you're still thinking about the Mall Rats, aren't you?" Jasper said kindly.  
"Eagle, my name is Eagle to these lot." Amber hissed back, looking round to check that no one had heard him say her real name. He let it pass, Amber, or Eagle was well known for letting her temper loose over small things, and this was part of the reason why people thought she was a strong leader. After they had eaten people started to settle down for the night, and soon everyone was asleep. Everyone except Amber, who was lying on the ground weeping. How could Bray do this to her? Maybe they had thought she had died in the explosion on Eagle Mountain, just like she thought they had, but she hadn't become involved with anyone, even when she thought Bray was dead. She decided there and then that she needed to go back to the Mall Rats, even if she wasn't going to stay with them.  
"Jasper! Jasper, wake up!" Amber whispered so as not to wake any other members of the tribe.  
"What! Go away Amber, I mean Eagle. What time is it?"  
"It's one thirty in the morning. Please Jasper, I need your help!" Amber pleaded. Jasper got up and stretched. He followed Amber to the nearby stream, where she told him her plans. When she had finished explaining, they both put up the hoods of their cloaks and walked off the way they had come a few hours earlier.  
Back in the room, Danni had fallen asleep and sunk down onto the floor. Bray was sat a few meters away from her, musing about the person who had pinned him by his neck against the wall. The voice was definitely female, and he recognised it quite well, but couldn't quite place it. The person must have known a great lot about the Mall Rats to know that they had lost their most loved leader on Eagle Mountain. It just had to be Amber, but if it was, her voice had changed. But she was dead! That was what the others had told him when he had come round after the explosion anyway. It didn't make any sense to him at all, and from what he remembered of Amber she wasn't nearly as strong as to be able to pin him up by the neck. He hadn't been able to see the face, as the hood was covering it with shadows.   
"Bray, stop imagining things." He muttered under his breath.  
"You think the girl is Amber, don't you?" Tai-San asked him.  
"What! How did you know?"   
"The expression on your face said quite a bit about what you were thinking." She replied in a mystical voice, and then went back to her meditation. Bray closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep, but he was woken up by noises outside the room.  
Jasper took a deep breath and knocked on the Guardian's door, then quickly smiled at Amber. She walked off round the corner. He had no idea what he was going to say to distract the Guardian for ten minutes or so. The door opened, and the Guardian's tired face appeared in the doorway.  
"What do you want, it's two thirty in the morning and some of us are trying to get some rest around here!" he snarled.  
"Sorry, I couldn't sleep. Eagle isn't well, so she sent me here instead. It's about the peace treaty…" he lied.  
"You better come in then." Said the Guardian. Jasper smiled inwardly, this was just the reaction he had been hoping for.   
"Eagle, what do you want?" said one of the two guards who were standing in front of the cell door.  
"I came here on business. Jasper is with the Guardian now, so I brought you some drinks, you must be thirsty." She said sweetly, taking out two cups from behind her back. The two guards took them eagerly, and drank up quickly. She walked back around the corner she had just come round, and waited a minute for the strong sleeping pills in the drinks to take effect on the guards. She looked round the corner, and saw that they were already lying on the floor, so she walked silently over to them. The first guard had nothing in his belt, but the second one did. There was a small bunch of three keys, so she slid them out and tried each one in turn. The final one fitted into the lock and turned, making a loud click. Bray was on his feet on the other side of the door, but all the others were still asleep. He had heard the conversation between the guards and Eagle. Eagle had returned, maybe now he would have a chance to find out who she really was! The door was opened slowly, and creaked all the way, and a shadowed, hooded head looked through.  
"Bray, wake the others, you can make it out of here. Hurry though, you don't have much time." It said quietly. He looked at her for a few seconds, but she turned away and started to wake the others. Amber couldn't show her emotions now, they didn't have time and Bray was with another girl. Bray followed her lead, and soon everyone was awake.  
"Go straight through to the entrance, and be as quiet as you can, or the Guardian will hear you." She said to the others, but none of them had worked out who she was yet. They followed her instructions, and were soon out of the building. Amber stood by the side of the entrance, but the others were some fifty meters away, crouching by the side of a building.   
Jasper was getting more and more nervous in the Guardian's room, so he tried to make a quick exit.  
"Er…that's all I wanted to talk to you about…" he said weakly, snatched Brady up from where she was sleeping, and walked briskly out to where Amber had told him to meet her. The Guardian hurled abuse at Jasper and then slammed his door vowing to get Brady back some other time, and some other members of The Chosen woke up. They looked around the corridors, and caught a glimpse of someone leaving the building. They ran after them, and saw two people and a bundle of blankets walking away, so they ran after them. Jasper warned Amber that they were being chased, and they both ran. Amber tripped and fell onto the road, but Jasper was hidden already safely, with Brady. One of the four members of The Chosen who had followed them hit her over the head, knocking her unconscious. The Guardian came into view just in time to see this happen.  
"That is Eagle you are attacking, you stupid imbeciles!" he shouted out in alarm. The four turned around to face him and ran back inside. The Guardian closed the door after them, and went back to his room. Jasper and the Mall Rats stood rooted to the spot, but Bray got up and ran over to the motionless body. Sensing the danger of another attack, he scooped her up and ran back to where the other Mall Rats were hiding, and Jasper followed him.   
"I believe she is yours." He said, handing Brady to her mother.  
"Thank you, I never thought I would see her again." Trudy sobbed, hugging her daughter very tightly. Bray lay the body down on the floor, and carefully pulled back her hood to reveal her true identity. The others stood in shock, apart from Danni, Alice, Ellie, and May, who looked very confused.  
"Amber!" Bray exclaimed, very shocked. 


	3. Part 3

Jasper quickly pushed Bray aside. "That is correct, but I dare say that you shouldn't have done that. Amber wanted to reveal herself in her own time!" With that Jasper swept Amber's body into his arms and stood up.   
Bray fought the urge to grab Amber's body back, "I can carry her, she's my girlfriend, you know."  
"Was you girlfriend. Unless, of course, you wanna try to tell me you're not dating that dark haired girl."   
Bray looked back and indeed Danni was staring directly at him, looking worried. "Bray?" She said.  
"Not now Danni." Danni looked over at Ellie, Alice and May. The new girls were sticking together. Not sure exactly who Eagle really was or why everyone was so excited about it.   
"Don't worry Danni, I'm sure it's nothing." May said, but she sounded unsure.  
Jasper turned his back on Bray "Follow me, and be quick about it," he called to the others, "we want to be safely into the woods by nightfall. And please," he said softly "no questions about Amber, she will want to answer them herself when she awakens." He marched, the mallrats following behind him, still trying to get over their amazement that Amber was alive.  
"Hey," Bray caught up to Jasper. "You cannot tell my Tribe what to do!" Bray said childishly, feeling territorial.  
"Fine, you want to handle it yourself, go ahead. I can't stop you, but where will you go? The chosen have taken over the mall, the entire city is probably already on alert looking for your tribe and trying to get Brady back, but hey, if you wanna take your chances here be my guest. But for me and Am we're going home." Jasper replied in a harsh whisper.   
Bray was steaming now, this guy called Amber Am, was holding her in his arms like it wasn't a big deal, had denounced his and Amber's relationship, now had the audacity to tell him his tribe couldn't handle the city.   
"You…" Bray started but was interrupted by Lex who had walked up to them.  
"Jasper!"  
"Lex!" Jasper said excitedly. The two did some kind of secret handshake that had Bray rolling his eyes. "Man, it's good to see you, how have you been?" Jasper asked.  
"Not bad, until recently, but I guess you know about that."   
Jasper shrugged. "I guess I do. Can I assume everything's alright other than that?" Jasper asked   
"Things are really great! I'm married now." Lex stopped, remembering that he had been seriously dating Zan when Jasper and him had been friends. "Oh but," Lex's face dropped. "Zan, is…she's no longer with us."   
"Oh. I'm sorry," Jasper said, in truth Zandra was at the base camp waiting for their return. He struggled with telling Lex that. But doing that would mean telling the whole entire story of Zan and Amber. He did not want to reveal any of Eagle's secrets, it was her right to do so when she was ready, he was not going to do it for her.   
Lex smiled again. "It's so good to see you again. I tried to find you after the virus, but…"  
Jasper nodded, finding anyone after the virus had knocked everything out was difficult. "I belong to a country tribe, I visit the city rarely. That's probably why you couldn't find me."  
"So I see you've met Bray." Lex said. "Bray, this was one of my best friends before the virus, you have something in common with him, he's always been quite the loverboy too!"  
"Shut up Lex!" Bray said irritably. The two friends continued to chat for awhile.  
"Hey! Wait till Ryan finds out you here!" Lex said  
"What? Ryan's here." Jasper asked excitedly  
"Jasper!" Ryan came running up. "I thought it was you!"   
"Ry!" Jasper handed Amber off to Lex and the two guys gave each other a huge bear hug. Bray was kinda confused causes Ryan wasn't the huggy type.   
"I tried so hard to find you after the virus, both me and Lex did me did."  
"I know Lex told me." He ran his hand over Ryan's head. "Nice hair," he joked.   
Ryan rubbed his bleached locks. "You don't like it?" Ryan asked self-consciously. Obviously Jasper's opinion meant a lot to him.  
"No man, it's cool, you look good." Jasper smiled reassuringly. " So, Lex tells me you're hitched. When I do get to meet my new cousin-in-law?" So they're cousins! Bray thought to himself, that made sense they had a similar bulkiness to them. But where Ryan's features were manlier, Jasper's features tended to be delicate, pretty boy like.  
"Oh you'll love Salene, I'll go get her now." Ryan ran to the back of the group to round up Salene. Jasper smiled shaking his head. "Gotta love him."   
Lex agreed. "That you do." Jasper took Amber back and carefully slung her over her shoulder.   
"Dal? Dal could you come here for a minute "Jasper turned and called into the group following him.   
"I'm Dal." Dal came out of the group. He looked kind of afraid.  
"Don't worry we're not gonna sacrifice you to Zoot or anything. Amber told me you had some medical background."  
"Yeah my dad was a doctor." Dal said still unsure of what this guy wanted.  
"Really? Where did he work at?"  
"The Clinic on West Ave."  
"Really, my aunt was the receptionist there."  
"No way!"  
"Yeah. But anyway, I love Amber and all but she's getting a little heavy, when we camp for the night do you think you could work on getting a stretcher made?"  
"Sure, no problem. I still can't believe she's alive. I missed her so much."  
"She missed you too. She talked about you a lot. You're her best friend you know."  
"Yeah? Well I'll go talk to Jack about the stretcher."   
"Nice kid." Jasper said. Bray shrugged crossly.  
"Jasper?" Trudy called.   
He looked up. "Yeah? Trudy, right?" He smiled at her, a big beautiful teethy smiled, the kind that made girls melt. Bray found himself once again rolling his eyes.  
"Yeah, that's right I just wanted to say thank you again. For getting Brady out for me."  
"No problem, we couldn't let her grow up thinking that power and chaos are the answers to everything," he said seriously. Trudy nodded in agreement. "And plus, think of how hot those robes get in the summer." He finished, breaking into that smile again.   
Trudy giggled. "Well, thanks again." She gave him an awkward hug, because Amber was still slung over his shoulder.  
Lex elbowed Bray. "See what I told you, a loverboy just like you." Bray wanted Lex to hate Jasper too. He wanted everybody to feel the resentment he had toward him. But so far they all liked him. He had charmed Dal and Trudy. Ryan and Lex seemed to already be crazy about him. He began to wonder just what kind of relationship he had with Amber. It was like Sasha all over again.  
The tribe camped out for the night. Almost everyone went directly to sleep. While Dal sat by the fire and worked on the stretcher Jasper put Amber down and checked out the wound on her head. "It looks pretty good. It's clean, the bleeding's already stopped, but I'll bandage it anyway. She should regain consciousness in a day or two."   
Dal came over and looked. "I'd agree. How do you know that?"   
"My older brother was a studying to be a doctor before the virus he only had a year left…" He trailed off and swallowed hard. Dal nodded. He understood his pain. There was no need to press him on it. There was not much said after that and soon they too drifted to sleep. The only one still awake was Bray. He had put himself on watch duty. Not like he could sleep anyway. He had too many things going through his head. Amber was alive! Just who was this Jasper? They may have had Brady back but the chosen would stop at nothing to get her back. How would they ever defeat them? There was just too much to think about.   
The next morning the tribe began to hike again. They traveled much faster after their rest. Plus with Amber in a stretcher Jasper could lead them faster. Everyone was in a pretty good mood, except for Bray who had not slept at all last night and was still thinking about the same things he had been then.  
The tribe reached the crest of a hill and looked down into the valley. What they saw shocked them. A whole little community sat there. Small wooden houses, fruit trees, a river, it looked like paradise to the exhausted mall rats. "Welcome to Hawk Meadow." Said Jasper. 


	4. Part 4

The Mall Rats looked around at the luscious green fields in awe.  
"So this is where you have been hiding all this time!" said Lex, happy for his friend.  
"There are two people I want you to meet, Lex…" Jasper trailed off, smiling, and Lex looked seriously confused. "Come on!" he urged, and walked quickly to a small wooden dwelling that looked like it was about to fall down. They walked inside, and a thin girl was facing away from them. She spun around when the door was opened, and she had a small baby in her arms. Zandra stared at Lex with her mouth wide open.  
"I need to sit down." She said weakly before collapsing onto her bed into the corner.  
Amber was still unconscious, and Jasper and Dal were looking after her. Bray was very tired, but took a walk in the woods nearby. After about five minutes of walking he sat down and leant against a tree, glad that Danni wasn't with him for once. He started to think about Amber. She was with Jasper; well at least that was what it looked like anyway. He had never loved Danni properly, not the way he still loved Amber. He had only gone out with Danni because she reminded him of Amber, and he was still grieving for Amber when he had met her. After fifteen minutes of thinking about her he fell asleep. Meanwhile, Zandra had recovered from the shock of seeing Lex alive and well, and now they were both sitting on the bed with the baby.  
"Is it a boy or a girl?"   
"A boy, like you thought it would be…" Zandra replied, rolling her eyes.  
"What did you call him?"  
"Lex, but that was because I thought you were dead. If you want, we can give him a nickname that we both choose though."   
"Do we have to think about that now?" said Lex, looking over at little Lex who was sleeping in the cot at the foot of the bed. Zandra raised her eyebrows. "There are some other things we could think about…" he whispered, and laid down, pulling the smiling Zandra back down onto the bed with him.  
"Any change?" asked Jasper as he returned to Dal after checking that the other Hawks hadn't had any problems while their main leaders were gone. "I had Enna make up some beds in the large hut, look, the one over there." He said pointing to a large wooden hut, which looked much like the one Lex had gone into some time ago.  
"Yes, Amber seems to be getting warmer, and her wound is healing up quite fast!" Dal exclaimed optimistically.  
"Good, she should be up and about soon. As soon as she wakes up she will want to check that everyone is all right. She would go nuts if we made her lie still." Jasper smiled.  
"That sounds like Amber!" laughed Dal. Amber stirred, and both looked at her.  
"Amber, are you OK?" Dal said.  
"Dal, what are you doing here? You still live in the Mall, don't you? Are the others here? Can I have a drink?" she grumbled.   
"Your awake!" shouted Jasper. Dal set off to get Amber a drink when she called him back.   
"Can you find Bray for me, I need to talk to him."  
"Yes, fine…" said Dal, leaving the shelter to get the two things. Amber looked out of the open-sided building at the rest of the camp. She liked this spot as she could see what was going on very well.   
A few minutes later Dal returned with a glass of water.  
"Where's Bray" said Amber frowning.  
"I looked all over the camp, but I couldn't find him. Sorry." He replied. They sat there talking to each other for a while, until a loud crashing noise made the whole camp turn towards the entrance of the meadow. Several people screamed as they saw who their attackers were…  
"Don't try anything stupid and you won't be harmed!" sneered the Guardian. In all the confusion, no one noticed Trudy slipping away with Brady. The Guardian ordered some of the Chosen guards to capture everyone, and they ran off to do their duty.  
Five minutes later all the Hawks and (most of the) all Rats were rounded up and bound in chains.  
"Are you sure this is all of the Mall Rats?" demanded the Guardian.   
"All except one dead girl." the nearest guard said.  
"Take me to her." he snapped back, and the guard led him to the shelter.  
"Here she is." The guard said, standing back.  
"Are you telling me that this dead girl is an empty glass of water!?!"  
"N…n…no." the guard stammered.  
"You are not worthy to praise Zoot!" the Guardian screamed as he stuck a handy knife through the guard's chest, making blood pour out onto the floor. Amber watched this in horror from behind a nearby tree. The Guardian stormed back to the middle of the meadow, where everyone was being held captive.  
"We have a problem here. There are too many of them for them all to be held in one room. Move all the Mall Rats to that hut over there." Said the Guardian, pointing to the small hut that Zandra and Lex had been in earlier. "The others will go into the largest hut seeing as there is more. Where is the Supreme Mother, and her daughter?"  
"Where's Bray more like!" whined Danni to the Guardian's face.  
"Kill her!" ordered the Guardian, and several guards moved in to attack her. Patsy and Chloe screamed, and the others watched in horror at the scene unfolding before them. The guards picked up the motionless Danni and carried her to the small hut, and some other members of the Chosen dragged the rest of the Mall Rats in after her and locked the door. The Hawks were undergoing the same treatment, and were all dragged into the large hut.  
Meanwhile Amber heard a twig snap behind her and spun around.  
"Amber, we have to do something." Bray whispered.  
"Bray!" she said spinning around and flinging her arms around him. "Thank God you're all right!"  
"Think something up, quick! We are running out of time!"  
"It is already dark, so I suggest we take advantage of the cover and try to free the others. Any better ideas?" she whispered in reply. The two of them crept up towards the camp where their friends were being held captive. Unfortunately the events of the day took their toll on Amber and she fainted, making a loud thud. Bray picked her up and tried to run back into the forest, but they had been spotted by a group of guards, and were caught. They were taken back to the camp and flung into an empty hut. A few minutes' later Amber's eyes flitted open.  
"Why are we in Enna's hut, Bray?" 


	5. Part 5

"Amber!" Bray lit up at the sign that she was all right. Amber was lying on a large bed against one of the walls of the small, warm hut, and Bray was sitting on the bed beside her.  
"How did we end up here? We were at the edge of the forest, and then…"  
"Everything went black. You were still quite weak from when you got knocked out. Can you remember everything else?" Bray asked, worried.  
"The other Mall Rats are in Zandra's hut…"  
"So she's alive too!" Bray cut in smiling.  
"But then why weren't we thrown in with them?" she finished, looking confused.  
"I don't think there would have been enough room, and those guards probably didn't recognise us when we were caught." Bray suggested, shrugging. He then sighed and slouched against the wall. Amber sat up, and looked into Bray's eyes, and thought about some of the things that they had been through; all those meaningful glances, all the times they had trusted and put their faith in each other. She smiled sadly and breathed in loudly as she remembered their first kiss.  
"What put you so high in the clouds?" said Bray quietly, realising that they had been gazing into each other's eyes for the past five minutes.  
"Um…nothing…just our first kiss…" she mumbled, looking down at the floor, embarrassed. Bray gently brought Amber's face back up to look at his. He let go of her face, and let his hand rest on her shoulder. They both looked awkwardly at each other for a moment before hesitantly moving their faces closer, but then Amber looked away.  
"I can't do this, you have Danni now…" she started sobbing, and Bray held her. He couldn't bear to see her like this.  
"I love Danni like a member of family, but nothing more…I know I went out with her, but that was all a big mistake…I almost left the tribe when the others told me you were dead, but I realised that wouldn't be what you would want me to do, so I caught up with them after I had left…If I had to make a decision I would think about what you would say…" he told her, and she smiled at him through her tears. She looked up into his eyes again, and he wiped her tears away with his hand. She hugged him, and then pressed her body close to his and they kissed passionately, lying down on the bed.  
The next morning Amber woke up at dawn. She smiled at Bray, who was still asleep, with his arms around her waist. While she was snuggling back into his arms, he stirred.  
"Welcome back to the world!" she laughed, and he opened his eyes.  
"What's the time?" he yawned.   
"Six thirty." Amber said cheerfully.  
"What!?! Do we have to get up?"  
"I didn't say anything about getting up, it's just that I don't really want some guards coming in to give us breakfast to find us like this!" she replied, and kissed him quickly before stretching and finding her clothes. When she was dressed she made the bed and looked out of the window. She could see some guards in the centre of the field, and saw Zandra looking out of the window of one of the other huts with her son in her arms. They smiled at each other. Bray walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Zandra winked at her. Amber turned around, grinning.  
"What's so funny?" Bray said.  
"Zandra…" she shook her head, pointing at the window. Bray waved at her, and she disappeared from view. Amber sat down on the bed and leant against the wall, and Bray did the same. They were lost in their own thoughts for a while.  
"Amber…" Bray murmured hesitantly, as she looked into his eyes "…I love you." He finished. Amber was crying again, but this time it was tears of happiness. She knew that he loved her, but he hadn't told her before now.   
"I love you too." she said, and kissed him deeply.  
Suddenly they heard a bolt on the other side of the door being undone, and they untangled their arms and stood separately. Two guards walked in and one handed them two small plates of what looked like dog food. They both took it politely, and the guards left the hut. While they mashed their food up to make it look like they had eaten, they both thought about how they could escape the Chosen again. Suddenly Bray had an idea. 


	6. Part 6

"Guard!" Amber called in her most regal of Eagle voices. "Guard!" The snobby superiority of her tone even made Bray cringe. Not surprisingly a guard automatically opened the door.   
"Yes, Eagle?" He asked as if he were talking to his master rather than a prisoner.  
"How dare you treat me like a common prisoner, serving me this inedible SLOP! When this whole misunderstanding is cleared up I will have your head!" Amber roared.  
"Yes, Eagle…I mean let me get you some different food. Eagle." He bowed his head and closed the door. Through the window Bray saw him scamper away like a chided puppy. "Man, Amber you're scary." He commented.  
"I am aren't I." She sounded pleased. "It was my grief you know, I was so angry to have lost you. It just kinda came out like that." There was an awkward silence. They hadn't yet talked about what happened on the mountain that day. Bray decided to change the topic.  
"Now all we have to do is get rid of the other guard."  
"It shouldn't be that difficult, they're all pretty incompetent."   
Just then the door opened and the other guard stepped in. Amber went in for the attack. The guard grabbed her arm and pulled her completely against him. He pulled back his hood. "Am! Is that anyway greet your rescuer."   
Amber who had been struggling against him till this point threw her arms around him. "Jasper!" They held eachother for a moment. Bray tried not to get upset. She had just told him that she loved him. So obviously she had no romantic feelings for this guy.  
"Are you okay?" He asked concerned. "If anyone hurt you I'll break…."  
"Jasper!" She interrupted laughing. "I'm fine, really. How did you get out of the main hut?"  
"It wasn't very hard. I climbed out of second story window onto a tree and climbed down when they weren't looking down. Those guards aren't quite the brightest crayons in the box."  
"I'd agree with that."   
"How is everyone?" Amber asked anxiously.  
"Everyone's fine…" He seemed to hesitate.  
"What?"   
"Zan, they locked her and Lex, in the upstairs bedroom of the main hut. I guess because they were there when everyone else was fighting."  
"Well I'm sure they're fine. Better than fine probably." Bray added suggestively, wanting to get in on the conversation.   
Amber groaned. Jasper didn't react at all. "Bray!" Amber said sharply. "Jasp, I'm sure nothing going on. She loves you so much. She's always telling me how she never knew love was until she met you."  
"No, it's okay." Jasper said quietly. "I'm okay. If he makes her happy, that's all I want for her."  
"What!" Bray interrupted. "You love Zan, but I thought…. You and Amber….Oh that's great!" He nearly shouted  
Amber gave him a look. "What?" Bray still joyous that the two weren't a couple, finally realized what was going on. "Oh, don't worry. Lex, won't do anything he's married to Tai-San, another girl from our tribe."  
"What!?" Amber had not yet heard this.  
"Oh, I didn't tell you? Yeah, a while after you…left. In a double ceremony with Ryan and Salene.   
"Ryan and Salene?"  
"Yep, life's been busy."   
"See Jasper nothing to worry about." Amber said reassuringly.  
"Yeah bedsides if something does. I'll hold him down while you kick Lex's a**!" Bray offered. He kinda liked the guy, now that he knew that he wasn't interested in Amber.  
"Yeah? Put a few dents in his pretty little face eh?" Jasper said jokingly.  
"His mug ain't pretty to begin with." Bray shot back.  
"Well it's gotta be prettier than the guardian's."  
"Well, that's pretty hard to beat. But I'll only hold him down for you, if you let me get in a few kicks after you've had your fun."  
Jasper nodded "Seems fair."  
"If you boys are done being macho. Couldn't we form a plan here?" Amber said annoyed, but happy her two favorite men were getting along. But they simply ignored her.  
"But really." Bray said, "Lex is a good guy all in all."  
"I know, he would have to be, because he couldn't have loved Zan he wasn't."   
********  
The trio arrived at the main hut out of breath. They ran inside and slammed the door, hoping no one had seen them run across the yard. They went upstairs to where the rest of the two tribes were being held.  
The bedroom door had been broken down and both Lex and Zan were now with the others.   
"Jasper!" Zandra called and threw herself into his arms.   
"Zan." He laughed happy to see her and ecstatic that she was happy to see him.   
"I need to tell you something." She whispered to him and took his hand and led him to a corner.   
Tai-San watched the happy couple. She leaned against her husband who already had his arms around her. "Tell me what happened in that room." She said ready for the worst.  
Lex sighed.  
FLASHBACK  
There are some other things we could think about…" he whispered, and laid down, pulling the smiling Zandra back down onto the bed with him.  
"Lex Stop!" Zan said.  
Lex was off her in a millisecond. He shook his head as if he was unsure of what was going on. "Zan, you're alive and I'm so happy. But…"  
"You've moved on." Zanra supplied. Lex could have sworn there was relief in her voice.  
"Yes, I'm sorry I shouldn't have kissed you or anything. I'm married to Tai-San. You'll always have a place in my heart but Tai-San is the love of my life."  
"Lex that's great!" She hugged him. "I…" But suddenly she walked to the window and lost her lunch.  
"Zan are you okay?" Lex asked concerned. He helped her to the bed.  
"I'm fine Lex." She seemed awfully happy for someone who was sick, he thought. "But what you said, about moving on, I have. Lex…I'm pregnant again. And this time it's not yours."  
"What who did this to you I'll kill him. How could he…"   
"Lex Lex." Zandra tried to calm him, he obviously thought the father had left her. "My fiancée, did this to me. And I am so happy. You've met Jasper haven't you?"  
"Amber's mate?"  
"That's him, he's Amber's right hand man. He's the second in command." She sounded so proud of him.  
"Zan I'm so happy for you and I'll always love you." He hugged her.  
"Me too." She hugged him back, happy that he too had found happiness.  
Back To The Present  
Lex watched as Jasper picked up Zan and twirled her around. He smiled, she deserved the best. Jasper climbed up onto a table. He helped Zan up as well. "May I have your attention," the room went quiet.   
"We've come up with a way out, Amber and Bray will discuss it with you in a minute. For all of you who don't know, this is Amber's illustrious Bray." Jasper gestured to the two standing in a far corner. "We've heard a lot about you Bray. Welcome to our home" He said to Bray and then turned to the others again. I talked with him and I gotta tell you he seems to be everything Amber described him as." Bray nodded a thanks. He knew that they would take Jasper's judgment as truth. If he told them to welcome him they would.  
"Before they begin to explain the escape, though. I have an announcement. Zan and I, we're gonna have a baby!" The room erupted with cheers. He helped Zan down. "Now for the hard part, escaping. I'll leave that part to Amber and Bray, guys?"   
He looked over to where they were. They two were locked in a passionate embrace and it seemed that neither had heard him. The room erupted again this time with laughter.  
"Ah guys?" Nothing. He just shook his head. This could take a while. 


	7. Part 7

Amber and Bray sat dozing in a dark corner of the large hut waiting for sunrise. Everyone was ready for the attack the next morning. Most of the tribe members had found somewhere to sleep. Amber was pretty sure she had seen Zan and Jasper sneaking off to one of the downstairs bedrooms to celebrate their news. She smiled. It seemed that it had all worked out well. Lex was happy with Tai-San and Zan and Jasper were happy together. It seemed that everything had worked out for everyone except….  
"Bray." Amber said thinking of Danni. He made a small grunting sound. She took a deep breath not really wanting to breach the topic of his girlfriend, or should she say ex-girlfriend.   
Suddenly a shadow loomed over them and Amber was saved from having to bring up the uncomfortable topic by, she looked up, none other than Danni herself. Amber sighed. The girl looked horrible. She was pale, rather it was from the massive wounds she had received in the past few days or something else, specifically Amber herself, she didn't know. Her face looked tearstained, her eyes were blood shot and her hair was a mess. She elbowed the half-asleep Bray in the ribs. "Hey." He said softly than saw Danni and paled.  
"I need to talk to you." She said looking directly at Bray, as if trying to ignore Amber existence.  
"Right, I'm going to go see if everyone is all right upstairs." Amber got up without looking at either of them. She walked upstairs calmly. And she was clam. One thing she had learned while leading the hawks and being away from the mall rats was that somthings you couldn't change. She thought of a proverb called the serenity prayer "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." If Bray didn't love her there was not a lot she could do. If he wanted to be with Danni, it would hurt like a bullet through the heart, but she would live. And Amber felt that she had the strength to move on with her life. She just hoped Danni felt the same way if Bray decided that Amber was the one he wanted to be with.   
Amber walked into the kitchen hoping to find Dal. She sighed, seeing him asleep next to Ellie. She was desperate to talk to him. She had missed him horribly, almost as much as Bray. It was different though in a way. With Bray it had been so passionate but relatively new. But Dal, she had had him since they were kids. It had been a different kind of pain in her heart when she had missed Dal then when she had missed Bray. She looked around and seeing no one awake she decided to fix herself something warm to drink.  
"So." Bray said hesitantly. He knew that he should've had the consideration to talk to Danni, before now, the minute he had realized Eagle was really Amber. But he didn't, he wasn't sure how.  
"You know I could've dealt with the fact that Amber was back and that you were going back to her, everyone knows that you love her. But God, Bray, you could have told me it was her, that you and I were through, but no you didn't, you let me find out in front everyone else. Do you know how that felt? You were so caught up in kissing her you didn't even know Jasper was talking to you. I didn't even know that you had decided to go back with her until then. A little consideration Bray, that's all I wanted, all I deserve."  
"Danni I'm sorry," he interrupted.  
"No, don't. I'm not some poor little waif, I don't need your pity, I can handle this. It was fun Bray. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay. I just wanted you to know, that you hurt me, not because of Amber but because of the way you handled it."  
"Danni. Are you going to be okay."  
"I'll be fine, Bray. No thanks to you." She turned around and walked away, he head high, her shoulders back. The moment she was out of site she began to sob. Oh Bray, she thought, how could you, how could you. But at the same time she told herself she knew that Bray had always loved Amber and had never given up hope that she might still be alive. She took a deep breath, and let it out. She had told Bray she would be okay, and she would be, boys just weren't worth it she reminded herself.  
Amber walked back down stairs and looked questioningly at Bray. He smiled at her and she sat back down next to him. She let down a breath she didn't know she had been holding. He smiled again and kissed the top of her head. The two caught a little more sleep before morning, and the upcoming battle. 


	8. Part 8

The battle was almost over. Amber looked around. The Chosen had at least doubled their size, and the Mall Rats and their allies were losing badly. Bray made one last attempt to attack The Chosen, and succeeded in injuring a few guards before he himself was knifed down. Amber ran to his side, but he was lying barely conscious on the ground.  
"Bray, don't leave me. I won't be able to survive a second time." Amber wailed, tears streaming down her face.  
"Amber, I will always love you." He managed to splutter, then he clutched his throat as if he couldn't breathe and fell to the floor.   
"Amber, wake up!" Bray urged. Amber's wild thrashing had woken him up. "Amber!"  
"No! Please don't go!" she mumbled.  
"Amber!" he said louder, and shook her a bit harder. She woke up slowly.  
"Bray, I had a horrible dream about the battle." She said, and he held her.  
"It was only a dream, there's nothing to worry about. We are going to defeat The Chosen easily, we're larger than them." He whispered into her ear.  
"Yes, but this is only a fraction of The Chosen. There are more."  
"How many?" Bray asked worriedly.  
"I don't really know, probably at least five times the amount we can see outside." Amber said, pointing through a window.  
"They won't come, will they?" Bray said, trying to be optimistic.  
"I'm not sure."  
"Amber, what's the time?"  
"Err…ten past nine, why?"  
"We need to round up the others and go over the battle plan." He explained. "Come on. Let's go and find them." The two set off. Amber walked down the hall and woke all the people in the bedrooms along there, and Bray woke all the people who had fallen asleep in the main hall of the hut.  
  
Amber had two rooms left to go into. She knocked on the first one.  
"Who is it?" came Zandra's voice.  
"Is that you Amber?" Jasper followed.  
"Yes, it's me. We need everyone in the main hall to go over the plans. Hurry up you two!" she said, and the two reluctantly started to get up. Amber crossed the hall to the other side and knocked on the door. When there was no reply, she opened the door slowly, and saw Dal sleeping on his own on the floor.  
"Dal! Dal!" Amber said, excited at the prospect of talking to her best friend.  
"Amber!" he replied before getting up and hugging Amber. "I missed you so much."   
"I missed you to." She smiled. "We are having a meeting about our action plan in the main hall."  
"When" he asked.  
"Straight away, once everyone has woken up."  
"Come on then!" he called cheerfully, and the two walked back to the main hall. Everyone was now assembled there.  
  
The tribes stood in position ready for the chosen to attack. The plan was to give the idea that the entire village was empty, and when the chosen least expected it to surround them with a massive attack. It was risky, but they refused to remain trapped in their own homes any longer. The first thing they had to do was to take care of the guards who were still in the village. There were about ten. The chosen and his troops had left yesterday for some kind of holy Zoot day. But they were going to return this morning. Bray Lex, Jasper, and Ryan, left the hut at dawn to take care of the guards still in the village. They figured it wouldn't be that difficult and they were correct, within an hour they had all the guards tied up and thrown into the cellar of the main hut. After that it was time to get into position. The main hut sat in the middle of the clearing with six smaller huts around it. The tribe leader's lived in the outer huts. Amber, Dal and were in her hut, Jasper and Lex hid in his. Bray, Tai-San, Ryan, KC, Jack, Alice, and Danni, were in position in the other four. The rest of the tribes' members hid in the main hut. When the chosen was in site everyone would be hiding. After the chosen entered the main area of the village, they would ambush them from in front and behind. The plan was would give them the element of surprise and the advantage of the chosen not knowing their exact number, which would be good if the chosen outnumbered them. Amber took a deep breath crouching in her hut. They had seen the chosen marching over the hill and knew it was now just a mater of time before the attack began.  
When Bray and Amber had walked together to their assigned huts. Amber felt ill. She had just regained Bray in her life; the idea of losing him again made her nauseous. They came to the door of her hut. She took a deep breath. She couldn't find any words. So she just threw her arms around him and dug her face into his chest. She could her his heartbeat. It was so comforting. It strong and steady, like he was. "Amber" he said softly. "Are you okay?" She nodded her head against his chest. "Don't worry everything will be okay. We're ready for them, it'll work out."  
"This reminds me of the night before tribe circus, it's almost like reliving that"  
"Yeah, and everything worked out fine."  
"Except the mall was trashed and Ebony kidnapped you." She mumbled her face still buried in his chest  
"Amber, look at me." She did as her asked. Her eyes were wet with tears. "Oh Amber." He whispered. He used his thumb to trace the path of her tears. "We all lived. And we will all survive this. I promise you that. I love you, that's stronger than death." He kissed her deeply and then walked away. He didn't trust himself to look back, lest she still be crying. Then he would have to go back and comfort her and there just wasn't time.  
Amber took a deep breath and walked into her hut. Please don't let me lose Bray again. I couldn't handle it, she thought. "You okay Amber, you look ill." Dal was already in position.  
"I'm fine, Dal."  
"You sure? You look as pale as the time Bobby Kingal put that frog down your back." He smiled.  
"Yeah, but don't you remember what happened after that." The memory made her feel a little better.  
"You broke his nose!" Dal exclaimed  
"It didn't break it!" She argued.   
"You did to, poor Bobby, everyone at school laughed at him for getting beat up by a girl."  
"He never put another frog down any girl's back again." Amber said proudly  
"Ah yes, Amber defender of freedom for all even in second grade." The two began to laugh uncontrollably. She had another thought then, please don't let me lose Dal. I couldn't handle that either. She didn't want to lose anyone. She was suddenly afraid because she was knew that before the end of this day, there would be bloodshed.  
Dal too, stopped laughing suddenly and put his arm around her. "We'll make it, Am. I can feel it." She still didn't smiled so he added lightly. "We're the good guys we always win."  
"I hope you're right, Dal, I hope you're right." She put her head on his shoulder and they watched through the window as the chosen marched closer.  
  
A stillness had descended on Hawk meadows. In every house, on all the streets there was silence. No movement came from the air or fields. No birds sang in the tress, no squirrels scampered about on the ground. It seemed as if the entire meadow was holding its breath, waiting for the chosen to arrive. One of the hawks had taken Trudy and Brady along with Patsy and Chole to a remote abandoned cabin half a day's journey from the village. The rest were all in position waiting for the chosen to attack. The sound of the chosen marching echoed across the nervously silent meadow. Closer closer, closer, their feet pounding on the hard ground. Job, another hawk leader, crouched in the bell loft of the main hut, waiting to ring the bell to sound the attack.   
The pounding resounded in Bray's head and matched the rhythm of his heart. He had told Amber they would get through this, but would they? Yes! A voice inside him cried. He would not lose his second chance with Amber, they would grow old together. He took a deep breath and peeked out the window. The chosen were almost inside the village. The bell would sound any moment. He nodded to Lex, who was sitting next to him. He nodded back, they were ready. DING DING DING! The bell sounded and the attack began.  
Bray jumped out of the window of the hut and grabbed the first guy he saw he punched him in the face and he went down. He grabbed for another hooded figure. Ryan next to him grabbed two of the hooded soldiers and smashed their heads together. There was a dull cracking and then both of them fell over. Danni, meanwhile, stood on the roof picking chosen off one by one with her cross bow.  
Salene stood slightly off from the battle. She eyed up a chosen solider. She beckoned him with her finger and he came over. "Hey big boy, you must be tired of fighting. Why don't you take a break with me."   
"Okay." The guy answered excitedly. Salene lead him into a dark alley in between two of the huts and Jack and Dal made quick work of him. Salene smiled and walked back out of the alley. She leaned against the hut and eyed another soldier. "Hey Big Boy…."  
Amber took a deep breath and beat down another solider. She was looking for Bray when she was attacked from behind by a chosen. She could tell it was a girl by the thin arms she trying to use to strangle her. Bray saw this and ran over. But he was only half way there, when Amber made it to one of the huts. And smashed the girl hard against it's wall, once, twice, and the girl fell off her, unconscious.  
Bray smiled at her, "I was coming to save you, but you've gotten pretty good at protecting yourself."  
"Well, it's the thought that counts." Amber said. "The guardian didn't return with all of his troops we're lucky." Bray didn't get a chance to answer because two more chosen came charging toward them and soon both were sucked back into the battle. Ten minutes later it was all but over, most of the chosen were on the ground or had run. Jasper called to the guardian who had been standing off to the side the entire battle, with a dozen followers practically hiding him from sight. "Look at your tribe! You've lost! Get out of here."  
"It's too bad you went to all this trouble for nothing." The guardian laughed evilly.  
Bray came up beside Jasper. "What's that supposed to mean?" He called.  
"Maybe you should be looking at your tribe!" The guardian called back.   
Amber came up to Jasper's side, she mentally counted them; Salene, Ryan, Jack Dal,…Oh no. "Jasper Zan…"  
At that moment the chosen surrounding the guardian separated and revealed Zandra, gagged, arms bound with the guardian holding a knife to her neck. Amber put a hand on Jasper's shoulder and she felt it tense. The guardian laughed. "Jasper, I would hate to ruin this pretty neck."   
Jasper started to charge. Both Amber and Bray put an arm on his shoulder. "Not like the Jasper, it won't help her." Bray whispered.  
The guardian had suddenly stopped talking, he slipped his hand down to Zandra's belly. "Or perhaps," he said lowering the knife. "I should use the knife here…." He pointed the knife at Zandra abdomen.   
"NOOOOO!" Jasper shouted. At this point, Bray had to use all his strength to keep Jasper back.  
"It's simple, Jasper. Your baby, or Zoot's. All I want is Brady. I don't care about your insignificant tribe. It's up to you." 


	9. Part 9

Jasper, Amber and Bray looked at each other in horror. They had no clue what to do. Zan or Brady, there was no possible way this could work out okay. Jasper went to speak but was interrupted.  
"Kill me, go ahead, I would rather die! Then give you Brady!" Zan shouted very Amber-esque.   
"And you'd kill your unborn child?" The Guardian asked seeming genuinely surprised.  
"And what if I didn't what kind of life would she have? With you in control of the world? What kind of life would that be? No, I would rather DIE!" She screamed and spit in his face.   
"You little whore." The guardian shoved her to the ground. "Now you will die!"  
"No!" Lex screamed from behind. He dove on top of the guardian. He tackled him, but not before the knife made contact with his right side. Lex pinned him down gasping for breath. "No one calls Zan a whore." He screamed at him before hitting him over the head with the butt of the sword he had in his hand. The Guardian fell unconscious. Lex struggled to stand up, but collapsed.   
"Lex!" TaiSan scream and ran to his side. She knealt down beside him, "Please don't die, please." She was sobbing.   
Jasper ran over and began to untie Zan. She seemed okay, just a little frightened. He prayed that he was right in that assumption. "Are you okay, Love."  
Zan began to shake uncontrollably. "I don't, I don't know. Hold me Jasper, please." Jasper swept Zan into his arms and walked toward their cabin. Leaving the two tribes still sitting in the courtyard to try to figure out what they were going to do from there.  
  
Jasper sat at Lex's bedside. He got up paced around and sat down. Amber had convinced Tai-San to rest and then Jasper had convinced Dal to let him take a turn looking after Lex. So he sat alone in the dim hut. After getting up again and pacing around the room for a few more minutes he sat back down and stared at Lex. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. Lex had been his best friend growing up. He, Lex, and Ryan. The three had been inseparable. The bond they had was unbreakable. And even when Lex started dating Zandra the three were still close. The problems had started when Glenn had moved to town. He hadn't liked Glenn, hadn't liked, especially, the way Glenn looked at Zan. Yeah, he had been attracted to Zan at the time to, but she was Lex's girl, and to him that meant stay away. But apparently not to Glenn, he was always making passes at her. He sighed again. He was a hypocrite. He had ended up marrying Lex's wife. He knew that Lex had moved on with Tai-San, it was obvious in the way he looked at her. And Zan had told him about the discussion they had in the bedroom yesterday, but he still felt like he needed to talk to Lex about it, to get it all out in the open. If he would just wake up, Jasper thought. He hit his fist against the wall and resumed pacing. Amber walked in the door. "Hey, Jasp." He nodded. "I just checked on Zan, she's still asleep."  
Jasper smiled. "Good, I was worried she would wake up and notice I was gone." Zan had been so shaken up after her run in with the Guardian. He had had to sit with her, rocking her back and forth for an hour before she finally slept.   
Amber looked at the still unconscious Lex. "No, change?" Jasper shook his head, frustrated. "I remember the first time we arrived here. When Zandra first saw you," Amber smiled shaking her head. "She had been so pale and weak for so long after giving birth, I still wasn't sure she was going to make it. But she saw you at the edge of the forest and just lit up. She ran at you like some kind of charging bull. I thought she had lost it."   
Jasper laughed remembering. "I thought we were being attacked by another tribe. But it turned out to be my long lost friend."  
"You were so good to us, taking us in."   
"But look what you did, Amber, I could never lead this tribe without you now."  
Amber avoided his eyes. Now that she had found the mall rats again she wasn't sure she could stay here when they left. The door opened and Amber was saved from having to answer by Ryan. The two guys looked at each other and Amber saw that it was time for her to leave. "Well, I'm going to go find Bray," she walked to the door. They both nodded at her and she left.  
The two cousins looked at each other and embraced again. "I've missed you." Ryan said.  
"Ditto." Jasper replied.  
The two sat down and looked at Lex. There was a tense silence. "You should have told us." Ryan said suddenly. "About you and Zandra, I mean. You should have said something. Lex would have been okay with it."  
"I know, I wanted to tell you, but…." Jasper was just as frustrated as Ryan.   
"But what? I hate it when you're not honest with me." Ryan didn't understand. As close as he and Lex were he could never quite completely trust him, but Jasper had always been truthful with him.  
"I didn't even know if Zan would want me now that Lex was back. And what was I supposed to say. 'Hi, glad you're not dead, but your wife thought you were and so we fell in love and she married me, your best friend."  
Ryan was frustrated now, "Well, Yeah!" He said sharply  
"I'm sorry Ryan. I just…I just didn't." Jasper didn't want to fight with Ryan. They needed each other right now. Especially if Lex didn't wake up. Don't even think that way he chided himself mentally.  
"Well, I guess it worked out okay anyway." Ryan said shrugging. He didn't want to fight either.  
"Yep." Jasper said. They sat for a while in companionable silence watching their fallen friend.  
"Do you remember the time we first met Lex?" Ryan asked  
"Oh yeah, how could I not…." Jasper smiled. 


	10. Part 10

It was the first day back at school after the long summer. Jasper was shouting across the classroom to all his friends about what he and Ryan had done in the holidays. They were cousins, but had known each other since they had been born. Their parents were very close friends too, and they had all shared a huge farmhouse for as long as they could remember. The house was down a muddy lane, with very few other houses along it.  
"Mike! Guess where me and Ry went on holiday!" yelled Jasper. The teacher looked up from the work she was writing on the blackboard and stared harshly at him.  
"There is a time and a place for talking, and the classroom is not one of those places! And if I were to let you scream like cats across the classroom, I would expect you to speak properly. Ryan and I, not 'me and Ry'" she snapped, quoting Jasper in a whiny voice. "You are nine years old, yet speak as if you were three!"  
"J! J!" Mike hissed across the classroom, trying to catch Jasper's attention and hoping that the teacher wouldn't notice.  
"Yeah, so we went to Disneyland, the one in Florida! It was amazing!" he called back, having been muttering to Ryan when the teacher was lecturing them, and not hearing a word. There was a knock at the door, and in walked the headmistress, with a fidgeting boy in tow, who obviously would rather not be there.   
"This is Lex, he will be joining your class as of this year." She announced, smiling sweetly at the class but glaring at Lex at the same time. "And if you try to pull off another stunt you will be expelled from this school too! Don't you ever, ever try to put slugs in peoples coffee again." And with that she left the room. Jasper heard what Lex had done, and yelled across to the teacher.  
"We'll look after him, you know, show him around and stuff."  
"Yes I'm sure you will!" she replied sarcastically. "Lex, will you go and sit by Peter."  
"The goody goody two shoes!" Ryan yelled back. Lex ignored the teacher's command and went to sit next to Jasper, lifting four girls' skirts up on the way, causing a lot of screaming among the girls and hysterics among the boys.  
Break time came around quickly, and Jasper and Ryan were eager to talk to Lex. They walked into the playground, but they couldn't find him anywhere. They walked back to find him, and saw Lex sneaking around by the staff room door. They walked up to him, and he put his finger to his lips, and pointed towards the staff room floor. There was a massive rat snuffling around, and the teachers had just spotted it. There was a lot of screaming, but the three boys kept on plotting.  
"Here, take this!" Jasper mouthed, throwing a lighter each to Lex and Ryan, and the three of them sneaked into the staff room, setting fire to the bin, the school cat, and several of the teachers skirts. They sneaked out unnoticed, and collapsed in giggles under a tree outside.   
  
…"And we have been best friends ever since." Jasper finished off. The five of them were in heaps of laughter. Amber had found Bray, and as they were walking past Zandra's room they had heard her call out, as she wanted to see Jasper and know how Lex was. They walked back to the room that Lex was lying in, and saw Jasper and Ryan grinning.  
"What could possibly be so funny, with your friend lying there unconscious." Amber stated, and sat down in a corner, on top of Bray, and he wrapped his arms round her while they listened to Jasper's explanation.   
"Does anyone want a hot drink or something?" asked Amber when they had all calmed down.  
"Hot Chocolate please, Am." said Jasper.  
"Me too." added Ryan.  
"Zandra?" asked Bray.  
"Nothing thanks." Answered Zandra.  
"Tai-San." Moaned Lex and they all looked at him.  
"Are you all right?" asked Tai-San, having walked into the room after having a feeling that Lex was about to wake up.  
"Yeah, fine. Well, just a headache." He smiled, and she kissed him on the forehead. Amber got up and pulled Bray's hands, to make him get up too. As they walked out the room to get the drinks Bray pinched Amber's bum.  
"Hey!" she exclaimed in surprise, her eyes lighting up, and ran off, racing him to the kitchen, but he was faster than her and caught up with her as they got there. They slowed down, and Amber leant against the worktop to catch her breath. She started making the hot chocolate, and Bray came up behind her and wrapped his arms round her middle. She stood staring into space for a little while, and then laid her head back on his shoulder and sighed.  
"What a day." she muttered.  
"Yeah." He replied, kissing her forehead. She turned around to face him, and she kissed him fully on the lips. 


	11. Part 11

Peace was surrounding the meadow. The Chosen had gone; they had just disappeared, out of the blue after the battle. Zandra had now recovered from the shock of having a knife pointed at her neck and her belly, and Lex was on the mend. The only person that wasn't happy was Danni, as she was still feeling sorry for herself after seeing Bray and Amber happily together. She couldn't sleep, and so she got up to make herself a hot drink.  
Amber opened her eyes, and smiled. Bray was still fast asleep, but she had woken up because her throat was dry. As she was walking to the kitchen, she thought she saw a figure in the shadows. She called quietly into the darkness, but there was no reply. So she dismissed it and walked the rest of the way to the kitchen. When she arrived, she saw Danni standing over the kettle.  
"Hi." Danni said softly, looking up.  
"Hey Danni." She replied, and smiled.  
"Do you want a hot drink? I couldn't sleep."  
"Um, okay then. What's on offer?"  
"I could only find hot chocolate. Is that okay?"  
"Yeah, sure. It's my favorite." Amber replied, and sat down at the table in the middle of the kitchen. When the drinks were ready, Danni brought them over and sat down opposite Amber.   
"Danni, do you think we could put all this Bray business behind us. I know you love him and all, but think how hard it was for both of us. We both thought the other had died in the explosion. I know he loves you too, it's just…" Amber started, but was cut off by the sound of footsteps in the corridor.   
"Bray, is that you?" Amber questioned.  
No answer.  
"Who is it?" Danni said, taking the words right out of Amber's mouth.  
No answer.  
Both girls ran out onto the corridor, but they could see no one. They walked around, checking to see if anyone was hiding, when Danni was grabbed from behind, but her pleas for help were muffled. Amber spun around, and managed to catch just a glimpse of Danni's attacker, before she too was grabbed and muffled. Amber wriggled with all her might, and suddenly the hand over her mouth slipped off.   
"Bray! Help! He…" she managed to yell before she was muffled again. Bray, being in a room quite near, faintly heard her cries, and leapt up to find her. He looked both ways down the corridor, and saw some shadows moving down one end. He started to run down the corridor, when he too was grabbed from behind. He was dragged to where Amber and Danni were, and exchanged a puzzled look with Amber. Suddenly his throat went all dry and he could feel himself choking on something. Amber felt the same, and when she looked at the ground she could see smoke seeping up through a nearby door.   
  
Bray caught Amber's eye, he had seen it too, but the Guardian realized that they could see the smoke and told the guards to move the three of them to a room further away, where even if they tried to scream, the others who were sleeping peacefully wouldn't hear them in time.  
"Move!" hissed The Guardian.  
"No, why should we listen to you, evil goldilocks!" yelled Amber, but she was muffled yet again. "I should have known you would come back, for one last try…and drag your …faithful lemmings with you." She continued, struggling to get free.  
"Raise your voice again and you will be killed!" drawled the Guardian. "And that goes for all three of you!" he snapped, and forced the three of them further away from their friends. The Guardian walked into the small room behind them, and closed the door.   
"Why, don't you want us to be heard, so that you can with your little fireworks display?" Danni struggled, while the guards tied their hands up.  
"Trust me, that's not gonna happen." Bray added. The Guardian laughed an extremely fake laugh, the one that he always put on when talking to captives of the chosen.  
"You can't stop it now…" he smirked, but was cut off by noise at the door.  
"Can't we?" came Tai-San's voice, and immediately the Mall Rats and The Hawks filled the small room, overwhelming the Guardian and the few guards that he had with him. The Guardian signaled to them what to do, and they all made a run for it, with the Guardian at the front.   
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Bray said, while the three that were previously being held captive had their hands untied.   
"What happened?" Danni asked.   
"The fire, what about the fire?" Amber yelled. The others looked confused.  
"Follow me!" she added, and bolted out the room, with the others in tow.  
"Amber, don't go any further!" screamed Bray as she got to another corner, well ahead of all the others. She stopped and turned around, and the others looked on in horror.  
"What?" she sighed, with her hand on her hips.  
"Amber, run! Quick!" yelled Danni, as she saw movement from round the corner. Not only was the fire quickly spreading, but the Guardian and the guards crawled out, spluttering. The Guardian was the worst off, with burns all over, especially on his face. The onlookers helped them out of the heat and into the fresh air, and sat them out on the grass. The guards were okay and sat close to the Guardian, who was barely able to speak. Luke, take over from me, I am past being the Guardian for the Cause any more. Lieutenant Luke got to his feet, and walked away, towards the Hawks and the Mall Rats.   
"No, I only joined to save myself from the evils."  
"Me too." added one of the other guards, and soon, all of them had abandoned the Guardian.   
The next day, Amber sat on the grass, near the stream surrounding three quarters of the meadow. She was thinking about the previous day's events. They had given the late Guardian an appropriate burial, with the help of the ex-Chosen. Half of the large hut was completely burnt out, and everyone had spent the night cramped.  
"Amber, there you are." Bray said lying down on the grass next to her. She leant over and kissed him lightly.  
"We have to find a new home." She sighed sadly, and leant against Bray's side. 


	12. Part 12

Amber stared at the smoldering village. They had been successful in putting out the flames but not before most of the village was destroyed. And their homes, Amber could barely stomach it, they were in ruins. They had managed to save half of the main hut, it was almost funny, you cold see the inside of entire hut from the outside. But her hut had been completely destroyed. All of her stuff from the last year gone. Amber felt like retching again, everything had been ripped from her, right out of her heart. She squeezed her eyes shut forcing back the tears and swallowing, there was no time for self-pity. Not when her tribe, even as she stood, milled behind her waiting for guidance. Amber wished Jasper had not left to get Trudy last night, she needed him to take control while she regained control of herself. She took a deep breath, it felt like glass shattering in her lungs and drew herself up to her full height. She turned herself around and tried to give them a look of peace, she knew she failed. She knew she should offer them calm words, words of encouragement and peace, but she had none to offer herself, let alone them. So she did what she did best, became administrative Amber. "All right guys, I know this is hard, but let's try to cope 'k? Job, take Jack, Gillian, Ellie, and Neo and check out the state of the main hut, is the rest of it even salvageable, or is there to much smoke or water damage. Bryan, take Lex and Dal, and Salene to see if the water supply is still clean and if it is how much we have left. Ryan, Jacob, Renée, Ellie, Alice, and Danni, I need you to see what you can do about finding some temporary shelter, we won't all fit in the main hut, even if it is livable. The rest of you need to get started on tearing down, the smaller leader huts that didn't make it through the blaze. Jasper, and I have already decided that ours are useless, make sure you check with the owner before you begin to tear it down. They might be suffering from smoke inhalation and think it's salvageable." This earned her a small chuckle from the group and gave her the strength to sound confident in her final words. "All right guys let's go, this is a tragedy, but we can overcome this and become closer, prouder and stronger!" The crowd cheered and went to their assigned duties. When the attention was away from her she fell back onto the tree behind her, and closing her eyes heaved a sigh of relief.   
"Amber, you okay." It was Bray's strong voice. And when she opened her eyes it was his warm caring eyes that she looked into. She nodded but he saw though the weak gesture. "Amber, please, tell me."  
"Bray, why, why has this happened to me? First the virus and my family, then I thought I had lost you guys, but I pulled myself together, I was strong both times. And then I came here and, I felt like I had truly moved on, and I was happy, I mean I still dreamt of you, and wished for my parents but, I was doing well, for the first time since the end I knew I was gonna make it. And then you came here and I…" She couldn't continue because the sobs were no longer under control. Her shoulder shook and giant tears fell from her eyes. Bray took her into arms and soothed her kissing her hair and stroking her back. He had longed to do this for so long, when he had thought she was dead, but the pain that twisted in his heart at seeing his beloved Amber in tears made holding her bittersweet. "I finally thought I had a shot a true happiness, why Bray, why now?" She leaned into him spent from her outburst, silent tears falling down her cheeks.  
"I don't have an answer, babe. I don't why things happen. But I promise you that no matter what happens and no matter when, I will always be beside you." He said kissing the last of the tears off of her cheeks. He held her for a moment longer before they were interrupted.  
"Bray! Amber!" It was Trudy she was running toward them, Brady strapped safely of to her back. Amber quickly brushed the final tears away and smiled. Bray thought it looked sincere. She threw her arms around both of them. "Thank goodness you're okay, I was so worried. I'm sorry about the village, Amber." Trudy said seriously.  
"As long as Brady is okay it was all worth it." Amber smiled. Taking Brady out of the carrier on her back Amber hugged the child to her chest. "And I can see she's just fine. Yes, she is, isn't she." Amber cooed at the baby.  
"Are you okay Trude?" Bray asked.   
"Fine, just fine." Trudy said happily "Me and my baby are fine."  
Jasper came up beside her red faced, breathing heavy. "For a woman with a baby strapped to your back you can sure move fast. "  
"Brady missed her uncle Bray." Trudy said simply.  
"And he missed her," Bray laughed taking the baby from Amber.  
"Wow' Jasper said suddenly sober. "It looked better under the full moon, in the noon sun, the place looks horrible." The others nodded. The somber mood once again settled over all involved.   
"But look," Said Amber realizing that things were going to happen, problems and heartaches were bound to come with a lot of tears and pain mixed in. But she alone could determine how she reacted. If and how she coped was entirely up to her. And right there, in the face of her annihilated home, she promised herself that she would never give in to those situations or problems. That no matter what happened, no matter how bleak the outlook, she would never let them crush her spirit. "Look at our Tribes, working together. Laughing together, living as one. Even in the darkest of nights, this dream sustained me. And now, that dream is reality!"  
  
"Well, Job, how is it?" Amber looked up at one her most trusted advisors hopefully. But even from just looking at the main hut, she had a suspicion that it was unsalvageable. Job didn't answer her, just, looked at her and shook his head. "Nothing?" She could barely get the words out of her tightening throat.  
"The Guardian started the fire in the center of the hut, it spread out pretty quick. There's no point in saving it, it's completely charred."  
Jack pushed his way through the crowd, he looked at Amber his face and hands black. "It's true Amber there's nothing left." He shrugged. "I'm sorry."  
"Okay, it's okay." She said mostly to herself. Just then Bryan and Dal and the rest of the water crew came up. They looked pleased, Amber was hopeful.   
Dal came up. "The water closest to the camp was soiled by the smoke, but most of it is okay. It should be okay as soon as a good storm comes up."  
"Oh good!" She was temporarily comforted by that fact, but looking around she realized they were really back to the start. All around people from her tribes were tearing down the smaller huts and now were even started on the main hut. They couldn't go back to how they had been, not now that she had found her old tribe. She didn't know what to do, she needed to go think.   
She began to walk away from the village, "Amber." Bray called after her.   
He ran up to her, "are you okay?"  
"I'm fine, I just need to think." She walked past him. She went to her spot by the river. Sitting on a large boulder that sat on the edge, she looked out at the water. She looked at the water it was ever changing, flowing, it would never remain the same, nor would her life. She wanted to   
return to the mall, but she was afraid about leaving here, that things would never be the same at the mall. But she was willing to take that chance though, she thought. How could she abandon her Gainan tribe though? She sighed looking out to the waters once again. She felt a hand on her   
shoulder. She looked up to see Jasper. He smiled and knelt down next to her. "Adaptation has kept many species of animals alive, when they faced hard times instead of dying out they coped and worked hard to overcome it. We really can learn a lot from them." Amber nodded and they sat in comfortable silence.   
Bray saw Jasper walk in the same direction that Amber had gone. He started after him but was stopped by Zandra. "Let him talk to her, Bray. They lead this tribe together, they help each other cope. They lean on each other before they can stand alone."  
"And you're not at all jealous of their relationship." Zandra laughed at him. "I'm the one carrying his child, not her. Trust me they are just good friends, I would as soon worry about Ryan cheating on Salene."  
"If you're sure." Bray said hesitantly still looking in the direction the two had parted.  
"Come on let's go help the others." Zandra tugged at his arm and he reluctantly followed.   
"Bray's right you know." Jasper offered after a while.  
"What?" Amber asked.  
"We can't hide ourselves away from the world and hope it doesn't affect us. That's why Zandra and I have decided to return to the mall when the mall rats return. I think you should too."  
"But what of our other tribe?!"  
"Amber, the chosen have dispersed now that the Guardian is no more. The city is now safe again. And look around us, the village is no more. I say we offer to take anyone with us who wants to join the mall rats at the mall, and leave anyone else to rebuild the tribe or start a new life somewhere else, but one things for sure the original Gainis are now more."  
"Well we'd have to talk to Bray about it...joining the mall rats, I mean"  
"We will then. Come on let's go." He offered his hand to her. She took a deep breath. And took it, "let's go." 


	13. Part 13

They had almost reached the edge of the trees surrounding the river when Amber stopped.   
"What's wrong?" Jasper asked immediately.  
"Nothing, it's just…I need to collect my thoughts. You go on ahead and I'll meet you later to discuss it with the others. I need to stay here for a little bit and clear my head." She smiled.  
"If that's what you want." He said and she nodded, so he walked off.   
"Where's Amber?" Bray said worriedly as soon as he saw Jasper coming towards them alone.  
"It's okay, she wanted to collect her thoughts."  
"Where is she?"   
"Bray, I really thinks she wants to be alone right now…" Jasper trailed off as he saw that Bray was walking towards the trees. "She's by the river!" he called after Bray.  
  
"Amber, what's wrong?" Bray asked as he walked up to Amber who was sitting on a boulder and staring into the water again. "Jasper said you needed to collect your thoughts or something, it sounds like you've just got a shock. Amber shifted along on the boulder and Bray sat down beside her.  
"It's nothing." Amber replied, not looking at him. A tear rolled down her cheek and fell into the water.  
"Amber you're crying, and I feel helpless." Bray said. She looked up at him. "Come on, you know you can tell me anything." He urged, and put his arms around her.  
"I've…we've worked so hard to get this place working, and now it's all…just gone, and we couldn't do anything to stop it. Jasper and Zandra have decided they want to go back and live in the city; join the Mall Rats if you lot will let them, but they want me to come too." She said, hugging him.  
"We always knew we would go back to the mall soon, even if we did like it here, and now I think we need to. What did Jasper think we should do will the rest of the Gaians, I don't think all of them will want to come with us?" Bray comforted her.  
"We should give them a choice; they can either come with us or try and rebuild their lives out here, but it will be tough though, almost like starting from scratch all over again."  
"We should go now and call a meeting." Bray said.  
"Come on then." Amber got up and wiped her face, hoping her eyes didn't look too red.  
"Are you sure you're ready?" he said standing up too. Amber kissed him.  
"Yes, It'll be better sooner rather than later."   
The news had been broken to the rest of the two tribes.  
"All those who wish to stay, raise your hands now." Amber instructed. Most of the Gaians raised their hands, as did Dal, Alice and Cloe.  
"Cloe, come back to the mall with us, it's our home. Please, I'll miss you." Patsy started to get upset.  
"It'll be like the farm, you can see her all the time." Amber said to a rather distraught Patsy.  
"Patsy, I want to come back, but I want to stay here in the country for a while first. I promise I'll come and live in the mall again soon." Cloe added.  
"Amber, what are you going to do?" Bray asked. He had to go back to the mall with the others, he was their leader, but then again so was Amber once. She felt torn. Both the tribes had had her as a leader. She wanted to stay with her best friend and the little girl she had rescued. She looked at the mall rats and remembered all the good and bad times they had seen each other through. She thought how hard she had fought to keep the Gaians together, but then she realised that in her heart she couldn't leave Bray.  
"Ummm…" she trailed off.  
  
Amber looked at Bray and smiled. She gazed at the landscape around her. She remembered coming here, how the tribe had almost immediately accepted her. She remembered the ceremony that made her their leader. She remembered the celebration of Zandra and Jasper's wedding. All these things she would always treasure. But when she looked around now and all she saw were the charred remains of a village and a hopeless looking group of people. This part of her life was over, she had done everything possible with it. When she look at Bray again she knew that she could never leave him. She loved him too much, and the mall was were she belonged. She took a deep breath and squeezed his hand, "I'm going back to the mall."   
Bray gave a shout and twirled her around. "We will be so happy." He said joyously and set her down. She smiled, knowing in her heart he spoke the truth.   
Zan ran over "Oh Amber, it will be just like old times." She said hugging her.  
Amber stiffened in Zandra's embrace and pulled back she looked straight into Zandra's eyes. "No, they won't. We can go back to the mall Zan, but things will never be the same. We can't live in the past. We depart for the mall to start a new phase of life, not to return to an old one." She smiled at Zan who had grown sombre at her speech. "Zandra don't be afraid. We will make life better than it was before." She smiled and hugged her again. Then she turned to the tribes. "We will leave at dawn's first night. For now let us spend one more night together, two tribes united."   
"That's right! Let's party!" Jasper shouted from behind her. The group cheered and soon the meadow was filled with the sound of laughing and music. Bray twirled Amber around as they danced and laughed. Zan and Jasper danced next to them and Jack and Ellie soon joined the couples on the "dance floor."   
Patsy sat off to the corner talking with Chloe the two in deep conversation. "It will only be for a few weeks, Patsy. I need a change, I promise to come back." Chloe reassured.   
Patsy bit her lip and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll miss you."   
"I'll miss you too." Chloe said hugging her best friend.  
"Hey, I hate to interrupt this touching moment but we were wondering if you guys would like to dance." KC said standing there with Dal.   
"Sure boys." They said giggling. And they joined the rest of the couples dancing to music from Jack's CD player that had amazingly survived the blaze.   
The party lasted well into the night and by the time they actually got to bed there were only a few hours till dawn. Yet, Amber lay in Bray's arms unable to sleep. As she turned and sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time. Bray raised an eyebrow. "Can't sleep?"   
Amber gave him an annoyed look. "What do you think."  
"Regretting your decision?" Bray asked.  
"No, just ready. Ready to move on we've been in this state of limbo, since the Guardian attack, almost a month. I'm just ready to get back to normal life."  
"Normal? Do you remember the mall Amber? It's anything but normal."  
She hit him in the chest and he yelped. "You know what I mean. Let's just go back to sleep."   
"I wish you would." Zandra called from the other side the small shelter.  
"Yeah, that's what we're trying to do!" Jasper called over.  
"Shove it!" Amber called throwing a pillow in that general direction, she couldn't really see because of the dark.  
"Is that the best you can do?" Jasper taunted. "And this is the remarkable warrior they call Eagle, what do you think Zan."   
"I heard she went soft." Zan agreed barely hiding the laughter in her voice. "Some guy came and swept her off her feet, she's more interested in cooking and sewing than leading and fighting."  
The only answer was another pillow, this time hitting its target. "Hey, watch it, I got a pregnant wife over here." He launched it back.   
"Oh, yeah hide behind you're wife's skirt, coward." Bray called.   
"That's it. You're finished lover boy!" Jasper shouted and jumped out of bed and swinging the pillow directly at Bray's head. '  
"Now you've done it." Bray laughed and also jumping out of his bed. Jasper took another shot at Bray with the pillow hitting him fully in the chest.   
"Hey! Don't hit my boyfriend!" Amber jumped up and hit Jasper with her own pillow.   
"And that's my husband you're hitting!" Zandra laughed and leaped up with her pillow, still agile at only two months pregnant. The pillow fight that ensued took the edge off their nervousness and soon both couples were resting up for the quickly nearing journey. 


	14. Part 14

Amber was saying her last goodbyes before they went. The others were waiting for her.  
"Cloe, Dal, come to the mall whenever you want. Promise you'll visit?" She said hugging both of them in turn.  
"Promise!" they both repeated. She hugged them again.  
"I haven't known you too long Alice, but I think you'll love it here all the same!" Amber smiled then turned to face most of the Gaians. "You made me so welcome, and if you ever change your mind about coming to the mall then I'll be happy to see you come. I'll miss you all." She finished and now she had tears welling up in her eyes. "Bye!"  
"Amber…" Bray started and held out his hand to her. She took it and the people returning to the mall walked off, Amber and Bray taking the lead.  
  
Soon they were almost halfway there and all of them had stopped to eat. Lunch was all gone now and the travellers were having a quick rest before carrying on. Amber and Bray had moved away from the main group of people and were lying on their backs talking quietly. Amber looked away from Bray.  
"What's the matter?" Bray asked worried.  
"I miss Dal…but I would miss you more if I went back home…I mean to the meadow; and you have to go back to the mall, you're the leader of the mallrats and…oh I hate it like this…feeling torn." Amber felt as if she couldn't make the right decision; whatever she did people would miss her.  
"Amber, your just as much their leader as I am; if not more. And I promise you, as soon as everyone's settled in the mall we'll go back…you and me. I swear." He reasoned.  
"Promise?" Amber questioned. Bray held her tighter and kissed her gently on the lips. Amber smiled cheekily. "I can't wait till we get back to the mall!"  
  
Two girls were running round chasing each other and laughing. They were twins, Phoenix and Beth, and had been with the Hawks ever since the virus. They were both quite tall and had good figures. They looked identical apart from their hair and their taste in clothes.  
"Are we going yet?" Phoenix asked the others, still a bit short of breath. She had medium length black hair with light blue streaks in it and was wearing light blue leather bootlegs and jacket with a lilac top.  
"I'm bored!" Beth added for her sister. Beth had dark blue streaks in her hair, and wore cropped skimpy dark jeans and a strappy, cropped sports top.  
"I think it's about time we got a move on anyway." Jasper said helping Zan up. "Amber! Bray!" he shouted vaguely in their direction.  
  
Soon they were back at the mall, and everyone had found somewhere to stay. The mall was not as nice as when Amber had last seen it - mainly due to what the Chosen had done to it when they had invaded. Bray was sprawled out over his bed while Amber tidied it a bit…Amber was moving in with him.  
"Oh it was such a sacrifice to make; me moving in here to make room for the twins and the other few." She grinned cheekily at Bray. "Then again…I would have moved anyway." She added.   
"And would I have any choice in that matter?" Bray retorted sarcastically.  
"Nope!" Amber walked over to him and sat down on the bed.  
"Same as always." He replied, and kissed her gently. "Come on. We better go see how everyone's settled in."  
"Aren't there more important matters waiting?" She whispering, and climbed on top of him.  
"If you say so…" he answered and kissed her.  
  
"It's good to be back here." Zandra said to Jasper. They were making dinner with the help of Phoenix and Beth.  
"Is it true that Zoot died here?" Beth asked.  
"Yep. Lex pushed him over the balcony." Zan said, pointing.  
"Wow." Phoenix muttered and walked over to the edge and looking over the rail. "It's a long way down."  
"Come on, back to work…you can't escape that easily!" Beth said.   
"Spoilsport!" Phoenix stuck her tongue out.  
"Where's Amber?" Jasper asked.  
"Do I really need to tell you?" Zan grinned.  
"True, true."  
  
Amber stood on the roof. It was dark, and everyone had eaten. She knew the direction of the meadow, and was looking over there. Bray was next to her, and she had her head on his shoulder.  
"I think I made the right choice." She had made up her mind now.  
"Well if you'd stayed I would to." He hugged her even tighter. "I couldn't leave without you." Bray said and looked at her.  
"I know." She smiled back, and went back to resting her head on his shoulder.  
"Do you want to go to see them tomorrow…I mean go to the meadow?" he asked after a while.  
"I think we should stay a little longer." We've only been back a few hours. 


End file.
